Of Fire And Night
by nightshade468
Summary: AU. I kept the same basic idea with a few... minor... changes, and a few of my own characters thrown in. Mwahaha. Starts in Ep. I in Ch. I, but it will continue on through all six episodes. AnakinxOC, ObiWanxPadme.
1. Prologue

a/n: This has been flying around in my head for a while, so I finally decided to write it out. I'm not sure if I' gonna make it just a series of one-shots or make it a really long epic. At the very least, it will be in two parts. Cover art will be up soon; I just don't know how to post it on my site. Stupid technology. Grrr.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. And if you recognize… well, no you won't not recognize anything in this chapter. So, yeah. I don't own any of it.

Of Fire And Night

by nightshade468

_The Jedi Temple burned, sending up tall, twisting pillars of smoke to swirl amongst the white clouds above Coruscant. Inside, blood ran in rivers over polished marble, now littered with the bodies of those who had died defending it. Defending each other. Now, all were gone. The great temple, a symbol of the power and glory of the Jedi Order for millennia, had fallen, as had her people._

_The light side of the Force was gone from the great capital city of the galaxy, now the Galactic Empire. The balance had tipped in favor of darkness._

xxxxxxx

_In the great city of Theed on Naboo, a great procession honored the greatest of its senators, and the most beloved. The shining star that had been their beloved lady was snuffed out, gone long before her time. The hope that she had carried, both in her beliefs and in herself, was gone, stolen by the newborn Empire. As she was carried into her tomb, starlight seemed to light upon her fair features one last time, glimmering in the tiny white blossoms woven into her dark curls._

_From the rooftop of the great palace across the river, a cloaked figure watched, and for the first time since that night, that terrible night, succumbed to his grief._

xxxxxxx

_Far from Theed, on a remote support station located on the tiny, unremarkable moon of a distant, unnamed planet in the far reaches of the Outer Rim, the heart monitor of a cryo-stasis chamber continued to beep steadily. _

_Its occupant slumbered deeply, so deeply that the patient was not expected to ever regain consciousness. The medical technicians often wondered why so many credits were being spent on its upkeep. The person, whose identity was after all completely unknown to them, had injuries that any medic would deem irreversible._

_Fatal._

_And yet the stasis chamber's occupant lived on, its heart monitor steadily recording the slowly passing moments._

_And moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, it kept on._

xxxxxxx

a/n: No, it's not what you think! Trust me! Although I won't be able to prove that to you for a while, or at least not 'til I get to the end of Episode III. And, for your information, I am indeed starting in media res of Episode I. This was just to give you a taste of what's to come. Mwahaha.


	2. Chapter I

Of Fire and Night

by nightshade468

**Chapter I**

"Zhane, you little junga worm!" With her typical lack of what her elders called 'decorum' ('stuffiness', according to the younger students), Sair raced through the Room of a Thousand Fountains after her best friend, leaving behind disgruntled Knights and Masters, who were all indignantly protesting the disruption of their meditation.

The Jedi Temple was typically known for its peace and serenity, but there were some things that even a Jedi could not be expected to tolerate.

In Sair's mind, hair-pulling was one of them.

Sprinting after her fellow youngling, the nine-year-old girl managed to impressively evade all obstacles, living or otherwise, in her path while not losing ground to her quarry. Suddenly, though, she felt herself yanked back by the neck of her tunic.

"Now what is such a promising youngster doing dashing about the halls like a mad thing?" a cool voice asked. Sair felt herself being pulled backwards, then turned and placed back on her feet, facing Master Windu.

She glanced up at the Council member and mentally sighed. She would dye Zhane's hair blue for this. "Well, Master Windu, I was…" She trailed off, lowering her eyes.

"Sahirah D'Jai." A cool hand lifted her chin, forcing her to meet the master's gaze. "Hold your temper, young one. Vengeance is not the answer to every problem."

Blushing, Sair smiled tentatively. "Yes, Master." _How does he know? He always knows!_

"Of course I know, young Sahirah. It is my purpose to know everything." Mace Windu winked at the gaping young girl and continued walking purposefully down the hall, nodding to other Masters as he went. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back.

"Sahirah, would you go to the chambers of Master Jinn? He has requested your presence."

_Master Qui-Gon has returned from Naboo? I didn't know that. But why would he ask for me? _Pondering this, Sair made her way towards the nearest lift, heading for the residential quarters.

"Sahirah, come in, come in," Master Jinn said distractedly. "Obi-Wan and I are to meet with the Council in a few minutes, and I need to ask a favor of you." Sair glanced over at Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Qui-Gon's padawan, who gave her a friendly, if equally distracted smile.

"Yes, Master Jinn?" she responded politely.

"Anakin, come in here a moment!" Qui-Gon called into the other room. A boy of about Sair's age appeared, watching her quizzically.

"Who're you?" he asked, sounding curious.

"Anakin Skywalker, this is Sahirah D'Jai, a student here at the Academy. Sahirah, would you be willing to show Anakin around the Temple for me? I have some business to discuss with the Council before I bring him before them." Qui-Gon said all this very quickly, as he ran through what looked like a lot of information on a holopad, his apprentice, glancing through some files as well.

Sair nodded, a bit confused, but she agrees. "Sure, Master Jinn. D'you want me to bring him up to the Council later?"

"Ah, yes," Qui-Gon muttered. "Yes, bring him up in perhaps one and a half standard hours?"

Sair nodded, then beckoned to Anakin. "This way," she said, leading him in the direction of the lift. "Are you hungry?"

The boy shook his head. "No, we just ate."

She wondered what to show him first. "Want to see the fighter bays? Or the training rooms?"

"Yeah!"

Sair grinned. His excitement was contagious. "All right, then let's go!"


End file.
